Need Imo.........please Help!

[SSGmajik]

I contacted Dr. Bash for an IMO and IME, but he wanted to charge me $5,000! I was told he was the best, but that seems a little too expensive. I know it's a case by case basis, but I have a lot of good medical documentation for a spinal cord injury and did not think it would be that much to have him write an IMO and exam me. Is there anyone else that I could use that is credible and is not as expensive? I am currently 60%, but I have secondary conditions that I need to show they are caused by my service connected injury. All my medical evidence shows that they are caused by my spinal injury, but we all know how they VA loves to deny claims just because they are not worded correctly in the claim. I appreciate any help.

SSgmajik

[allan]

If you know your claim is service connected, never ever quit.

Vets taking their lives, is a sure sign the DVA can win.

I believe the DVA has saved millions of bonus money watching us die by whatever means they can use.

Stressing us out until we develop heart conditions is another.

Take care not to let these things happen to you & pass all the information on to your fellow brothers & sister vets you can. You never know, it might save someone from the help the DVA & Congress provides.

The DVA is not only an enemy of us veterans. It's an enemy to our national security.

The Alqueida likes to torture our troops, the DVA tortures the Vet & their families.

Don't expect things to change. They like it this way.

Get all the IMO's you can & expect the same "TREATMENT" from any VARO your claim is remanded to.

Eventually you will likely win at the BVA level. VARO's don't have to abide by their own laws & are encouraged to cheat vets out of any benefit. The BVA level makes a more honest attempt to process it. Not always. But most of the time.

One thing I can say about Dr Bash's IMO's he writes up. They are thorough, accurate & supported by medical science. You must have the records to back it up, or he will not be able to write one.

I knew an injury to a joint at a young age leads to arthritis, joint disease, etc, by the medical treatises I pulled up on the internet. But never could put it in a medical rational the DVA couldn't get around.

I believe the AMC was floored when Dr Bash did. Their denial was so pathetic after several IMO's from their whores, the BVA ordered another IMO from the head of the arthritis clinic in Seattle I went to several years ago. They treated me for some time & did diagnostic workups on me.

I received a copy of the IMO recently. It stated the same thing Dr Bash did. These injuries at a young age develop arthritis and joint disease later in life. Heres another favorable IMO from a VA experienced MD.

Will the VA grant? I hope the BVA does the right thing, but I don't expect them to.

If they deny I will finally be able to have an attorney represent me. This i'm looking forward to since I filed for a reopen in 1994 of a 1989 claim.

I'll get off the box before I type my life history.

Never give up SGT.............never!

[halos2]

Allan,

I've been riding in the same boat as you with the denials of my 2 indepenent medical opinions/evaluations. Lost forms and letters,etc. As they(VARO) destroy these and praise be to the fuc*ing defunct nurse practioner whom they terminated from shafting anymore vets and booted her out of doing C&P's anymore. Mine is at BVA over 9 mths now.(filed in 2003). Guess her exam she did for my C&P was not truthful as I am not on any olympic team, yet her report read like a was an olympian!!

I have a fully favorable C&P with medical opinion by a VA examiner, that the VA claims they "NEVER" received. Two months after they received it, they scribbled on a note to a paid staff consultant at another VAMC requesting an IMO. Three days later they got there denial opinion & denied the claim.

I went to a private Dr I saw for years following service that still over a decade of records. I took him my entire c file & was examined again. My private Dr confirmed to VA C&P Dr's opinion that all issues of Spinal & neuromuscular disorders are service connected in his opinion.

The VARO hasn't given this opinion any weight either.

I then obtained three IMO's from Dr Bash. The VA has gone to "any" paid consultant they have and shot down all his professional opinions with no medical rational.

Recently, the BVA requested yet another IMO from a VAMC arthritis clinic I went to some years ago for an opinion. This one came back fully favorable as well. I'm now waiting for the VA to go to yet another whore that will write it up however they want so they can deny.

What the VA is good at, is simply stating they give no weight to the IMO you submit without "any" medical rational supporting it. They just deny it & thats it.

You can submit code after code and court cases that state the VA can't do this. But it will do you no good in the next life.

[broncovet]

Alan

I liked your post. I especially liked you calling it like it is, that the "docs" doing C&P exams are actually QTC whores, not doctors. They screw over a Veteran for $500 bucks, making a fortune doing a half dozen or more Vets a day. A medical degree is not required, any Nurse Practitioner, or any Physician Assistant who will lie and write evidence to deny will do.

[allan]

Halos,

From what I can recall, a VA C&P examiner only needs to be trained to provide the exam. That's why I've said in the past that a janitor could do it the way the VA has it set up. Someone that knows as little about your condition as possible is what they like.

There are VAMC C&P examiners that will provide an honest exam & know what to look for, but it’s rare anymore. Most have left the VA.

They stack the cards any way they want it.

Veterans should go outside the VA system in order to get an impartial evaluation of their claimed issues in relation to service in the military. Even if they have to pay a specialist to get it like Berta & I have. Our claims won’t always be at the BVA level & eventually our evidence will be acknowledged. We’ll have our day in court.

My claim was for a neuromuscular disorder of unknown cause & they had a nurse practitioner that had spent the last 15 years working in the drug rehab section of the VAMC, perform the exam.

She ordered x-rays of the spine, but didn't include any of the results in her summary.

She did note that the bruise on the left side of my chest from a blunt chest trauma in 1968 had apparently healed. (no duh?) I would hope so after 30 yrs.

She also noted that when asked to stand up straight, than bend all the way to the ground and touch my palms flat on the floor, that either I was not capable or wasn't cooperating cause she couldn't tell the difference.

Had she read the radiology report, she may have noticed the multiple herniated disks, spondylosis, stenosis, may have something to do with it.

I don't know if your aware halos, that once the rater receives a favorable exam, that completes the claim. They must show cause "why" they need to order another C&P or IMO and they must provide you and your rep with advanced notice their ordering one and a copy of it & time for response when it’s done.

The VA rater didn’t do any of it. It was denied 3 days after they had their unfavorable IMO.

There are some suggesting piano wire be used on AIG's bonus recipients & their families.

That’s a bit overboard for me. But jail time for cheating US Veterans, 5 to 10 and forfeiture of retirement & and any other federal benefit, seems just right for what they put us through.

The DVA is a failed business, taking money for something they don't do & spending their days covering their tracts. I hope the new secretary doesn't turn out to be another Chris Dodd.

[SSGmajik]

Thank you to everyone for their help! Without Hadit I would all be lost on that paper trail! I have a stress test, echocardiogram, eurology, and physical medicine appointment coming up and if anybody can give me a heads up on what to expect or what I need to file after these appointments, would be greatly appreciated. Eurology is for frequent urination. I get up and go about every hour during the day and wake up 5-6 times during the night. Physical medicine is for my knees, hip, and elbow that are starting to hurt from my back injury, from the way I walk now and the use of a cane. Thanks again to all!

SSGmajik

[allan]

These examination wooksheets may help.

http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/exams/index.htm

I would wait after your appointments and after you've recieved copies of your medical records & go from there.

The rest of your conditions will likely be, "secondary conditions" you'll need to file for.